With a tender crumb, just the right amount of sweetness, and a delightful hint of 5-spice powder, these paleo pumpkin and carrot muffins are a crowd pleaser!
One of my favorite meetups ever was a Paleo Pop Up Brunchthat I co-hosted at Departure Restaurant with our pal, the incomparable Chef Gregory Gourdeta.k.a. the guy whos been dominating all the challenges on season 12 of Top Chef. (FYI: if youre not on #TeamGG, Im sorry, but we cant be friends.)
We all raved about the insanely great spread that GG and his crew served, but there was one recipe in particular that everyone wanted: GGs Paleo Pumpkin and Carrot Muffins.
I cant blame them.
These mini carrot cakes are dangerously addictive. With a tender crumb, just the right amount of sweetness, and a pleasantly unexpected hit of exotic spice, its no wonder the brunch crowd scarfed down these muffins.
You guys know that Im not much of a baker. And because I refuse to tinker endlessly with batch after batch of Paleo baked goodsmy waistline just cant take it, peopleI begged GG to share his recipe. GG, being awesome, happily agreed to spread the pumpkin-y, carrot-y love.
The Secret Ingredient
When he sent me the recipe, what really surprised me was his secret ingredient: FIVE SPICE POWDER! I knowyoure raising your eyebrows. But if the guy whos killing it on Top Chef Boston is telling you to use it, youd be a dummy not to listen.
Now, grab an apron and lets start baking!
Makes 12 muffins
Ingredients:
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 4 medium carrots, peeled
- 1 cups (144 grams)almond flour, spooned and leveled
- 1 teaspoons five spice powder (if you must, you can substitute pumpkin spice blend)
- 1 teaspoons baking soda
- teaspoon cream of tartar
- teaspoon ground cinnamon
- teaspoon fine sea salt
- cup (183 grams) canned pumpkin pure
- cup (170 grams) local honey
- 2 tablespoons almond butter
- 1 teaspoon melted coconut oil, and a bit extra for greasing the muffin tin if not using paper liners
- 1 tablespoon sliced almonds
- 1 tablespoon toasted pumpkin seeds
Equipment:find all my favorite kitchen tools here
Steps:
Heat oven to 350F with the rack in the middle position, and take your eggs out of the fridge. Its important that your eggs are at room temperature when you start blending the liquid ingredients, or thingsll get chunky.
Line a muffin tin with paper liners.
Confession: Even when I make sure the muffin cups are coated with coconut oil or ghee, my muffins tend to stick. If you dont want to use paper liners, you can use silicone ones, or just grease the living $%!# out of the cups and fall to your knees and pray that the muffins release.
Next, grate your peeled carrots by hand or in a food processor
and place the shredded carrots in a doubled piece of cheese cloth or clean dish towel. (Trust me: paper towels will tear.)
Gather up the sides of the cloth and wring out the excess carrot juice
and set the carrot shreds aside. Thefinal volume of the shredded carrots should be 1 cups.
In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, five spice powder,baking soda, cream of tartar, ground cinnamon, and sea salt.
In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs well.
Mix in the pumpkin, honey, almond butter, and melted coconut oil.
Again, make sure these ingredients are at room temperature, or the coconut oil will harden and clump up. Not the worst thing in the world, but definitely annoying when your goal is a smooth batter.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry
and stir until combined.
Fold in the grated carrots.
Scoop the batter evenly into the muffin tins, filling them about full.
Sprinkle sliced almonds and toasted pumpkin seeds on top before placing the muffins in the oven.
Bake for about 30 minutes, rotating the muffin tin 180 halfway through the cooking process.
The muffins are done when a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean and the tops feel springy to the touch.
Cool the tray on a rack for about 5 minutes
and then pop the muffins out and completely cool them directly on the rack.
Final step: EAT.
How to store leftover muffins
Store any uneaten muffins in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to four days. They freeze beautifully, too! I try to let chilled muffins come up to room temperature before taking a bite, but to be honest, I sometimes usually cant wait that long. Thankfully, they also taste great right out of the fridge.
Looking for more recipe ideas? Head on over to myRecipe Index. Youll also find exclusive recipes onmy iPhone and iPad app,and in my cookbooks,Nom Nom Paleo: Food for Humans(Andrews McMeel Publishing 2013) andReady or Not!(Andrews McMeel Publishing 2017)!
PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE CARD
Paleo Pumpkin and Carrot Muffins
These paleo pumpkin and carrot muffins are dangerously addictive. With a tender crumb, just the right amount of sweetness, and a pleasantly unexpected hit of exotic spice, its no wonder that everyone loves these muffins.
- 3 large eggs (at room temperature)
- 4 medium carrots (peeled)
- 1 cups finely ground almond flour (spooned and leveled)
- 1 teaspoons five spice powder (you can substitute pumpkin spice blend)
- 1 teaspoons baking soda
- teaspoon cream of tartar
- teaspoon ground cinnamon
- teaspoon fine sea salt
- cup canned pumpkin pure
- cup honey
- 2 tablespoons almond butter
- 1 teaspoon melted coconut oil (and a bit extra for greasing the muffin tin if not using paper liners)
- 1 tablespoon sliced almonds
- 1 tablespoon toasted pumpkin seeds
- Heat oven to 350F with the rack in the middle position, and take your eggs out of the fridge. Its important that your eggs are at room temperature when you start blending the liquid ingredients, or thingsll get chunky.
-
Line a muffin tin with paper liners.
- Next, grate your peeled carrots by hand or in a food processorand place the shredded carrots in a doubled piece of cheese cloth or clean dish towel. (Trust me: paper towels will tear.)Gather up the sides of the cloth and wring out the excess carrot juiceand set the carrot shreds aside.Thefinal volume of the shredded carrots should be 1 cups.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, five spice powder,baking soda, cream of tartar, ground cinnamon, and sea salt.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs well.Mix in the pumpkin, honey, almond butter, and melted coconut oil. (Again, make sure these ingredients are at room temperature, or the coconut oil will harden and clump up. Not the worst thing in the world, but definitely annoying when your goal is a smooth batter.)
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry,and stir until combined.Fold in the grated carrots.
- Scoop the batter evenly into the muffin tins, filling them about full.Sprinkle sliced almonds and toasted pumpkin seeds on top before placing the muffins in the oven.
- Bake for about 30 minutes, rotating the muffin tin 180 halfway through the cooking process.The muffins are done when a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean and the tops feel springy to the touch.
- Take the muffins out of the oven. Cool the tray on a rack for about 5 minutesand then pop the muffins out and completely cool them directly on the rack.
- Confession: Even when I make sure the muffin cups are coated with coconut oil or ghee, my muffins tend to stick. If you dont want to use paper liners, you can use silicone ones, or just grease the living $%!# out of the cups and fall to your knees and pray that the muffins release.
- Store any uneaten muffins in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to four days. They freeze beautifully, too! I try to let chilled muffins come up to room temperature before taking a bite, but to be honest, I sometimes usually cant wait that long. Thankfully, they also taste great right out of the fridge.
The post Paleo Pumpkin and Carrot Muffins appeared first on Nom Nom Paleo.